Is The Fountain Of Youth Overflowing With Green Tea?

     Green tea may just be the most amazing beverage on the planet. It can literally add years to your life (more on that later). It is chock-full of Catechins, a potent antioxidant that is responsible for these  numerous health benefits:

-Promotes weight loss and specifically targets belly fat
-decreases risk of cancer specifically skin, breast, lung (by 18%), esophageal, bladder, stomach, prostate, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers
-decreases the risk of cognitive changes as seen in Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease by 50%!
-decreases risk of heart disease
-deceases atherosclerosis
-decreases risk of blood clots
-decreases cholesterol
-prevents diabetes
-prevents stroke
-deceases risk of liver disease including liver cancer, cirrhosis, and fatty liver disease
-improves artery function
-improves energy
-fights inflammation associated with Osteoarthritis as well as Rheumatoid Arthritis
-decreases wrinkles
-decreases risk of glaucoma, cataracts, and macular degeneration
-decreases depression in those aged 70+ (I would imagine this to be true for other age groups as well but the study I looked at targeted the 70+ crowd)
-lowers risk for high blood pressure by 46% to 65%
-decreases the risk of re-occurance of breast cancer in stage I and stage II patients
- and new research suggests that it may even help treat uterine fibroids

         Perhaps the most amazing finding is it's ability to add years to your life. One study found that people who drank 3 or more cups of green tea a day showed 5 less years of aging in their telomeres. What in the heck is a telomere? It is the DNA end caps on each of our cells (think shoe lace tips). As the body repairs cell damage (which is common with aging) these end caps get smaller until they finally reach critical length, which means that they are too short to replicate, resulting in cell death. As our cells die, we die. The theory is that since the green tea fights all of the diseases listed above, the cells do not have to perform as much cellular repair resulting in longer telomeres and longer lives.

          So how much green tea do we need to drink to garner the most health benefits? The studies I looked at evaluated differing amounts. Here is a quick list:
10 oz a day: fights plaque build up in arteries and decreases risk of stroke
2 cups a day: inhibits cancer growth, decreases risk for dementia and cognitive problems
3 cups: decreases depression, preserves telomeres
7 cups: promotes weight loss and targets belly fat
Across the board, the studies did agree on one thing-that the more green tea you drink, the more benefit you get. So, it's up to you-10 oz or 10 cups-it's all good for you.

         In order to maximize your green tea benefit I suggest the following:
-Allow tea to steep for at least 3 to 5 minutes to bring out the catechins
-Drink freshly brewed as the catechins lose potency as the tea sits
-Avoid decaffeinated, bottled ready to drink, and instant teas as these have less catechins
-Tea can impede the absorption of iron from fruits and vegetables. Add lemon or drink between meals to counteract this.

        At a cost of just pennies a cup and just minutes to make, good health doesn't get much easier than that!  Bottoms up! :)

Research for this post found on WebMD, Dr.Oz's Realage.com, Health.Harvard.edu, and Medscape